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To the Editor: As a representative of a law enforcement organization, I disagree with the proposal made by Dr Wintemute and colleagues¹ that convicted misdemeanants should lose their gun rights as is now the case for felons.

Since Wintemute et al considered primarily the fact of misdemeanor conviction and not the underlying crimes, the research may indicate only that prosecutors should be less willing to accept misdemeanor pleas from serious felons, not that true misdemeanants should be disarmed.

The policy would further undermine the bond between law enforcement and the citizens law enforcement officers protect, which has been moving toward an "us vs them" mentality, replacing the view that civilians and police are all just members of the same community with different jobs to do.² If people committing relatively minor offenses fear that arrest could lead to a serious loss of rights, even without counsel, our jobs will be made . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Prior Misdemeanor Convictions as a Risk Factor for Later Violent and Firearm-Related Criminal Activity Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns
Garen J. Wintemute, Christiana M. Drake, James J. Beaumont, Mona A. Wright, and Carrie A. Parham
JAMA. 1998;280(24):2083-2087.
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